Chapter 7 - THE NOTARY REMEMBERED THE BEDROOM
Helen Price did not confess when Detective Walsh first interviewed her.
She said Robert and Margaret signed willingly.
She remembered sitting at their kitchen table.
Both parents were alert.
No pressure.
Then investigators showed her a weather photograph taken that date.
The kitchen windows in Helen’s description had been replaced two weeks later.
She should have remembered the old windows.
She changed her account.
Maybe it was the bedroom.
Then Robert’s hospital records showed he had been receiving treatment in Williamsport during the exact afternoon Helen claimed he signed at home.
That ended the easy version.
Helen requested an attorney.
Her second interview was different.
Brenda had called her saying her parents were homebound and needed estate documents notarized urgently.
Helen arrived.
Margaret was in bed, groggy.
Robert was not present.
Brenda presented copies of their signatures from other documents.
Helen refused.
Then Brenda offered $5,000.
Helen still refused.
The amount eventually became $22,500.
“And you stamped it anyway?” Walsh asked.
Helen began crying.
“Yes.”
“Did either parent sign in front of you?”
“No.”
That gave prosecutors a viable forgery and conspiracy trail.
But Helen also revealed something new.
When she was leaving, she saw a man in the dining room with Brenda.
She knew him from town.
Eric Caldwell.
Acquisitions director for Pinewood Ridge Development Partners.
The buyer.
The developer’s attorney had insisted Caldwell acted independently and believed Brenda held valid authority.
Now a compromised notary placed him inside the house before the forged power of attorney was filed.
Caldwell denied knowing anything improper.
Then detectives obtained his texts with Brenda.
Most looked romantic.
That surprised Shawn.
Brenda had apparently been seeing him for months.
The relationship began before the land offer.
That made motive murkier.
Was Caldwell manipulating Brenda?
Was Brenda using Caldwell?
Or had they simply discovered an opportunity together?
One message mattered more than the rest.
Caldwell:
Your brother is the only loose end.
Brenda:
He hasn’t been home in twelve years.
Caldwell:
Paper still wants his name.
Brenda:
I can handle Shawn.
That was the first proof they had discussed Shawn’s required trust consent before anyone forged it.
Then investigators found the email allegedly containing his approval.
It originated from an account with his name.
May you like
But it had been created only eleven days earlier.
Somebody expected Shawn to remain absent forever.
